Basically, have two people ever come up with a story that pretty much guarantees a payment (because my understanding is that the court shows pay the awards, not the defendants), and agreed in advance to split it?
Wait the show pays the damages? That can’t be right.
Both parties sign a (legally-binding) contract guaranteeing they will respect the judge’s opinion and pay the amount decided by the fake TV court. In theory, if one party doesn’t honor their part of the contract, the other party can go to a real Government-run court for breach-of-contract.
The show only pays for incidentals related to filming the show. Catering, maybe a hotel room, etc.
If this has changed, it’s news to me.
To answer the actual question: have two parties ever invented a fake dispute purely to get onto the show? I would say: probably, but none I know of or can find in a quick Google search.
On the People’s Court both parties were paid an appearance fee. The judgement was subtracted from that fee. No one on that show actually lost any money. I’m sure the clone shows had similar arrangements.
Wikipedia says the following:
The same site also says (bolding added):
It’s always been the case. It was even the case in the original Wapner People’s Court show from the beginning.
They get stuff from people going through filings in courthouses and also from people emailing the producers about their dispute. The producers might be good at sniffing out fakes and asking for some proof but then again maybe they don’t give a shit if it will be good TV. Either way, I have no doubt that fakers have gotten through.
Hell, I’m convinced that many reality shows are not what they appear to be, due to injected choreography, suggested comments, and a lot of heavy editing to achieve the end product.
That’s why I can’t watch the shit.
Pretty much.
For the OP, the chances of it being completely faked are probably less with the researched cases than the ones which are submitted.
For some reason, appearing on TV is so exciting for some people that they don’t mind looking like idiots. I wonder if that is more the motive.
They also get an all-expenses-paid trip and cash.
I don’t know if anyone ever did exactly as the OP described (i.e., got on for the express purpose of the money), but back in its infancy, before it was a big name, Cracked got a prank case on Judge Brown for the lulz.
ETA: Video of the episode Judge Joe Sucker - YouTube
It would be a little silly to think that no one had ever faked one of these shows. That doesn’t mean they’re all fakes. They don’t use actors, there’s no scripting, but obviously what you see on TV is edited. There may be some coaching by the producers right before the parties go on. But they establish the damages being asked, and don’t award money for things like pain and suffering. Mainly, people get their bills paid for car accidents, back rent, or the cost of a new cell phone. They have to have file small claims cases in the first place, so if there’s any collusion it would happen after the show contacts them. The best bet is for a defendant not to put up a defense in exchange for a portion of an award. But even then the outcome would likely be the same. All in all, like reality shows, and occasionally game shows, there’s something a little different from reality being presented on TV.
On one show, at least 5 years ago, Judy busted some people for kind of pushing their dispute to get onto the show.
IIRC, it was a black woman and a black man. She played a tape of him saying something, and Judy said something to the effect of: “So, he told you if you kept complaining and went to court with it, you could get onto the show, and make some money”. Pretty close to that.
Ok well I’m an idiot.
What’s the whole point then? Why do people look upset when they “lose” when they’re not actually out anything?
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to enjoy a court show again knowing that.
On The People’s Court, they took cases from the Los Angeles area, probably to save on flight and boarding expenses.
I suppose it could be two reasons- one, if the award money comes from the other side’s “bonus”, then the loser actually gets more money, and two, just because I usually get the sense that there is a lot of personal enmity between the two sides on these shows.
People don’t like to lose. And when there’s an actual dispute, people don’t like the other side to win. There are also a lot counter-claims filed, so they actually do lose something in those cases. And many of the defendents are upset that they’re being sued in the first place.
I remembered a Judge Judy episode last night. The defendent was being sued for the value of property he stole. He was recently released from jail. Judge Judy suspected he was trying to assuage his guilt for stealing from someone who had been good to him. He had no defense, and she mentioned he could easily have avoided court. But it was a case where she must have felt that the plaintiff deserved their award. She frequently dimisses cases where the damages seem petty, trivial, or otherwise unworthy. I think her opinion of whether the plaintiff deserves to an award plays a factor since it won’t cost the defendent anything.
If I had a legitimate suit I’d go on one of those shows. They guarantee you get paid the award. In real small claims court you get a judgement, which you may or may not be able to collect.
That is so awesome.
I remember watching the very first People’s Court when it was just a local Los Angeles show. The concept was to show people how the courts worked and all of the cases were just typical boring small claims cases. All of the cases came from station employees going to the courthouse, pulling files and calling the litigants and asking them if that wanted to be on TV. Sometimes half of the show would just be Judge Wapner taking questions from the audience. It was unbelievably quaint in retrospect. Of course the most talked about shows were the ones with a bit of drama and crazy litigants which ultimately snowballed into what we have today.
I’m not a fan of court tv shows, but I can’t see why the producers should give a crap about the genuineness of the cases, as long as the litigants’ interaction makes for good television. Judy et al are not paid to fight for justice; they’re there to sell ads.
I’m sure Divorce Court was real marriages being dissolved as well.
Actually, I just looked it up and the current version of DC actually has real people. The earlier version that I remember growing up were scripted.
Indeed. There’s one that sticks with me to this day.
Two young men were suing the owner of a small convenience store. They bought a candy bar at the store and split it between themselves. But the candy bar was crawling with maggots.
They were suing for $5000 in pain and suffering, because Eww!
Did they have the candy bar with them? Nope, they ate it.
Did they have the wrapper? Nope, they threw it out.
Did they go to the hospital? Nope, but they felt really gross and whatever.
Wapner found in their favor, and awarded them…
…50 cents, the price of the candy bar.